Patterning apparatus for hosiery machines



Nov. 12, 1968 K. R. BOYER ET AL. 3,410,115

PATTERNING APPARATUS FOR HOSIERY MACHINES Filed May 31, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTORS.

I I Kerwin R. Boyer and 1 BY Ken fh w. New/en WITNESS W Fig. 5. wzi az ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,410,115 PATTERNING APPARATUS FOR HOSIERY MACHINES Kerwin R. Boyer and Kenneth W. Newlen, High Point, N.C., assignors to The Singer Company, New York, N .Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed May 31, 1966, Ser. No. 554,058 7 Claims. (Cl. 66-154) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE the other set of jacks.

This invention relates in general to knitting machines, and in particular to pattern drums therefor.

With the advent of high-speed knitting of fancy stockings, i.e. those stockings have patterned effects therein, with simulated spliced-in heel patches and the like, such prior art expediences as size changing have created heretofore unknown problems. In the prior practice of knitting fancy stockings, when size changing was to be effected, the pattern drum was for example merely indexed for more or less than a certain multiple of revolutions thereof, depending on the size of stocking it was desired to make. At such time when, say, a heel area was to be effected in a fancy stocking being knit, reciprocation of the needle cylinder was initiated, for example, by operation of the main control drum of the machine. Such needle cylinder reciprocation had the effect of Wiping out the fancy pattern in the heel portion of the stocking, and since it was initiated by the main control drum, the location of the heel patch did not, of necessity, relate to the length of the stocking or its pattern.

In the making of fancy patterns in stockings, use is made, as is known, of pattern jacks having plural butts thereon in coded arrangements, which jacks are arranged about the periphery of a pattern drum. In a typical arrangement, the coded butt pattern of each pattern jack is sensed for a respective rotation of the needle cylinder. For example, for a first revolution of the needle cylinder, all cylinder needles willdepending on the butts of selector jacks in the needle cylinderbe under control of the butts of a first pattern jack; for a second revolution of the needle cylinder, all cylinder needles will be under control of the butts of a second pattern jack; and so forth. Since each rotation of the needle cylinder generates a certain number of stocking courses depending on the number of yarn feed stations for the machine in question, the splicing-in for example, of heel simulating yarns must occur between certain indexes of the pattern drum, and then walewise for only certain of the needles in the needle cylinder. Otherwise, the simulated heel portion will not appear at its proper location with respect to the rest of the stocking being knit. This means that both the pattern jacks of the pattern drum and the selector jacks of the needle cylinder must be arranged according to certain predetermined sequences for a stocking of a given size, whereby for a particular certain number of courses and a certain number of wales certain needles that relate thereto are actuated.

Rather than provide a conventional pattern drum with a given number of successive pattern jacks having butts at a certain heel splice butt level, the present invention suggests the following: (1) split the pattern drum into two coaxial sections, the first section of which includes pattern jacks, and the section of which includes heel jacks alignable with, say beneath, the pattern jacks, and (2) provide a normally engaged clutch device between the two sections which allows the two sections to be relatively rotatable with respect to each other, and which clutch device, when engaged, allows the two sections to be indexed simultaneously as a single unit. In this way, the prior art need for rearranging the pattern jacks of the pattern drum for proper heel-location every time a stocking size change is to be effected is obviated. To locate a stocking heel using the pattern drum of the invention, one need only momentarily disengage the aforesaid clutch device and rotate the two drum sections with respect to each other, thereby establishing a certain fixed angular relationship between the two drum sections, and which relationship is representative of heel location taken with respect to the remainder of a stocking that is to be knit.

While reference above has been made solely to splicedin heels in stockings, it is to be understood that this environment for the invention is only by way of example. Broadly, the invention relates to the facile selection of any of the needles of a needle cylinder for producing a certain knitted effect that is variably locatable.

A principal object of the invention is to provide improved knitting machine apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved pattern control apparatus for use with hosiery machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pattern drum for use in making stockings, and the like, having fancy patterns therein, and which drum is adaptable for altering said pattern at variably locatable parts of said stockings, and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pattern drum having relatively rotatable first and second coaxial parts, one part of which is adapted to contain jacks for use in generating fancy patterns, the other part of which is adapted to contain jacks for altering said pattern, and means for locking said two parts together for simultaneous relation thereof.

The invention will be described with reference to the figures wherein:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are illustrative views showing sufficient detail of a hosiery knitting machine embodying the pattern drum of the invention,

FIG. 2 depicts schematic diagrams useful in illustrating the cooperation of the pattern drum of the invention with the selector jacks of a hosiery knitting machine for effecting fancy patterns in hosiery having respective variably positionable heels and the like.

FIG. 3 is a view, partially cutaway, depicting a presently preferred form of pattern drum embodying the invention,

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the pattern drum of FIG. 3 illustrating the assembly of such drum, and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating in detail the means by which the two sections of the pattern drum of the invention may be relatively positioned.

Reference characters employed with respect to machine parts shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B (and FIG. 2) are the same as those employed with respect to corresponding machine parts shown in the figures of United States patent application Ser. No. 363,026, this being not only to make for easy understanding of the invention in the environment of an actual machine, but also to show that machines of the type with which the invention is proposed are well known in the art.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the needle cylinder 21 of a hosiery knitting machine slidably contains, as is known, peripherally located needles 45, lifter jacks 48, and selector jacks 47. The butts of the needles 45 and litter jacks 48 may be operated on by means of respective cams (not shown), and the butts of the selector jacks are selectively operated on by means of slide cams, which slide cams are arranged in groups 51, 51'. The groups of slide cams 51, 51' are selectively brought into operation by the selective actuation, via linkages 55, of stops 112, 112 in response to control cams on the control drum (not shown) of the machine, which stops bear against and selectively move groups of levers 101, 101, thereby carrying the slide earns 51, 51' selectively into close proximity with the needle cylinder 21. The levers 101, 101', which are rotata'bly supported on a post 102, are provided with sensor tips 103, 103' which are so disposed that they may be actuated by the butts of pattern jacks and heel jacks 100, 100 respectively. That is, the pattern jacks and heel jacks are contained in respective parts of a two-part pattern drum 61, 61, and when the stops 112, 112' are respectively actuated by the control drum of the machine, the groups of levers 101, 101' get so selectively positioned against the tension of springs 106 that the individual levers in each group may be incrementally and selectively moved by the butts of the pattern and heel jacks 100, 100' respectively, thereby selectively moving the slide cams 51, 51' generally normally to the needle cylinder 21. The two parts of the pattern drum 61, 61' as will be described later, are relatively rotatable about a common shaft 110, but may be locked together as by means of a clutch for singular indexing about the axis of the shaft 110. While means therefor is not shown, it is to be understood that in this environment for the invention, the needle cylinder is continuously driven, and after, for example each revolution there-of, the pattern drum 61, 61 is indexed, eg, by a reciprocating linkage including a pawl and ratchet on the pattern drum, to place the slide cams 51, 51' selectively under control of a new pattern jack or heel jack.

To see how the hosiery knitting machine apparatus of FIGS. 1A and 1B operates to form stockings having fancy patterns, consider the schematic arrangements depicted in FIG. 2. Assuming the simple stocking pattern shown is to be effected, it is obviously necessary that for the designated first, third, fifth, etc. courses of stocking, every fifth needle 45 about the needle cylinder 21 must 'be actuated to knit; whereas for the designated second, fourth etc. stocking courses, every other cylinder needle must knit; with an X in the pattern diagram being indicative of a knit situation, and a blank therein being indicative of a float situation. Therefore, with the stop 112 actuated, and the pattern drum 61, 61' indexed initially at its reference location, only the uppermost sensor 103Q engages a butt on the first-sensed pattern jack 100. This causes the uppermost slide cam 51Q to position so as to engage the butts of the selector jacks 47. Since every fifth selector jack 47 has a butt at a first butt level commensurate with the slide cam SlQ, only every fifth needle 45 knits during the first revolution of the needle cylinder 21. At the end of the first needle cylinder revolution, the pattern drum 61, 61' indexes, thereby deactivating the slide cam 51Q and actuating instead the slide cam 51R via the sensor 103R. With the slide cam 51R actuated, every other needle 45 is made to knit, this being because every other selector jack 47 has a butt at a butt level that is commensurate with the slide cam 51R. This process is repeated for the third slide cam 51T after the pattern drum 61, 61' again, indexes, after which time the slide cam SIQ again gets actuated, and so forth. 1

At such time when the pattern drum indexes so that the first of the heel packs 100 locates at the pattern drum reference location, the slide cam stops 112, 112' are actuated by the control drum so that only the slide cam 51' may act upon the butts f the selector jacks 47. As representatively shown, there are a number of heel jacks 100' in a row which effect successive courses, for example,

of spliced-in heel yarns. That is, for a given number of needle cylinder revolutions (courses), the slide cam 51' is actuated to operate on the lowermost butts of a walewise number of selector jacks 47, whereby a stocking having a fancy pattern with a spliced-in heel is knit.

Since the pattern that is knit is continuous, the usual practice is to index the pattern drum 61, 61' for more or less than an integral number of revolutions of the pattern drum depending on the desired size of stocking being knit. However, rather than provide a pattern drum with a given number of pattern jacks having heel 'buttswhereby whenever a size change is desired, such pattern jacks have to be rearranged about the periphery of the pattern drum so that the heel butts of such jacks will effect a properly located stocking heelthe present invention provides a drum having a first set of pattern jacks and a second separate set of heel jacks 100, which heel jacks have their own arrangement of butts; and such heel jacks are relatively positionable as a set with respect to the pattern jacks (as indicated by the pair of opposing arrows in FIG. 2) of the drum by virtue of a normally engaged clutch element. In this way, proper heel locations (and the like) may be effected simply by merely properly fixing the relative locations of the pattern and heel jacks of the pattern drum, i.e. by declutching the two drum sections from each other, then relatively rotating the sections with respect to each other to desired relative positions, and then again clutching the two drum sections together for singular indexing of the two drum sections as a unit.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the presently preferred form of pattern drum embodying the invention is designed for rotation in bearings 123 about the journal or shaft 110, which journal is supported by the frame 122 of the knitting machine. The drum comprises a first peripherally slotted cylindrical portion 61, and coaxial therewith is a second peripherally slotted cylindrical portion 61'. The drum portion 61 is provided with a top plate 124 whichtogether with a spring band 126, and a retaining plate 128 that is held to the underside of the portion 61 by means of screws 129-serves to hold pattern jacks 100 in place in their slots 130. The drum portion 61 has a cylindrical male extension 132 that coaxially fits within, and extends through, the bore 134 of the drum portion 61'. The extension 132 serves as a journal for the drum portion 61' and operates among other things to prevent the whole drum from wobbling at its center.

The drum portion 61' is sandwiched between a shoulder 120, formed to accommodate the male extensions 132, and ratchets 136, such ratchets 136 being bolted to the extensions 132 of the drum portion 61 by means of screws 138. The drum portion 61', like the portion 61, is provided with a top plate 141, which together with a spring band 143 and the ratchets, serves to hold heel jacks 100' within their respective slots 145. The upper face of the drum portion 61' is provided with a plurality of stocking size representative apertures or holes 142, and extending through the drum portion 61 and alignable (depending on the relative rotations of the drum portions 61 and 61) with the individual holes 142 are a pair of aligned through apertures 144. A disengagea-ble pin 146, having an enlarged head 148, is adapted to reside in and extend through the apertures 144 to seat within one of the size-representative holes 142. Therefore, with the pin 146 so engaged within a hole 142, the two portions 61, 61 of the pattern drum are clutched or locked together, whereby they are made to be indexed together as a unit by action of the ratchets 136 driving directly upon the drum portion 61; with the pin 146 disengaged from the holes 142, the portions 61, 61' are declutched from each other, and are therefore relatively rotatable, whereby the heel jacks 100' may be relatively positioned with respect to the patterned jacks 100 for proper location of stocking heels.

While the invention has been described in its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than of limitation and that changes within the purview of the appended claims may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimed herein is:

1. In combination with a single cylinder knitting machine, pattern apparatus comprising first and second sections, said first section being adapted to be provided with a first set of coded elements arranged according to a first predetermined sequence, said second section being adapted to be provided with a second set of coded elements arranged according to a second predetermined sequence, means for use in changing the relative positions of said first and second sections of said pattern apparatus with respect to each other to establish various quiescent relative positions for said two sets of coded elements and for locking said first and second section together for unitary positioning of said sections, and means for periodically indexing said pattern apparatus as an integral unit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first and second sections of said pattern apparatus are cylindrically shaped members, and wherein said means for use in changing the relative positions of said two sections of said pattern apparatus is normally engaged means, whereby said two sections of said pattern apparatus are locked together for unitary indexing by said means for periodically indexing said pattern apparatus.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said two cylindrically shaped members are coaxially arranged, wherein said normally engaged means resides between said members, and wherein one of said cylindrical members is provided with a ratchet for simultaneously indexing both said members as a unit.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 including means for coaxially supporting said two cylindrically shaped members for relative rotation thereof, wherein said first cylindrically shaped member has at least one through channel away from but parallel to the longitudinal axis of said first cylindrically shaped member, wherein said second cylindrically shaped member has a plurality of circularly arranged apertures in the end thereof that is proximate an end of said first cylindrically shaped member, which apertures are respectively alignable with said channel by relatively rotating said first and second cylindrically shaped members, and wherein said apparatus includes a pin adapted to reside normally in said channel :and to seat in one of said apertures.

5. A pattern drum for use in a hosiery knitting machine comprising first and second coaxial sections thereof, said first section being peripherally slotted to accommodate pattern jacks with coded arrangements of butts, said second section being also peripherally slotted to accommodate a second set of jacks having coded arrangements of butts, means for use in relatively rotating said first and second drum sections about their common axis and for locking said drum sections together for unitary rotation thereof, and a ratchet on one of said drum sections for simultaneously indexing both said sections when said sections are locked together.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said first section is provided with a male extension, wherein said second section is provided with a bore that so fits in sleevelike manner over said extension that said extension extends beyond the axial dimension of said second section, and wherein said ratchet secures to the end of said extension that extends beyond the axial dimension of said second section.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said first section is provided with at least one through channel away from but parallel to the longitudinal axis of said drum apparatus, wherein said second section has a plurality of apertures concentrically arranged about the axis of said drum apparatus in the end face of said second section, which apertures are respectively alignable with said channel by relatively rotating said first and second sections, and wherein said apparatus includes a pin adapted to reside normally in said channel and to seat in one of said apertures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,196,073 4/1940 Kent et al 66-154 2,579,161 12/1951 Teague 66-14 3,006,174 10/1961 Haddad 66-156 3,093,987 6/1963 Zahradka et a1. 66-154 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,147,706 4/ 1963 Germany.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. 

